


for all the things my eyes have seen, the best by far is you

by LilacsAndLilies



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, How Do I Tag, Iron dad and Spider son, Irondad, Kid Fic, M/M, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Parley, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, after that i run this show, at least at the beginning, follows canon up to homecoming with a few slight changes, no angst allowed here in my perfect universe, parkner, spiderlad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:55:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23045116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilacsAndLilies/pseuds/LilacsAndLilies
Summary: Peter has always been terrified of losing his soulmate. Harley was terrified to meet them in the first place. It takes getting to know each other for those fears to finally fall away.Soulmate au where you and your soulmate each have half of a quote written on your skin. You can have multiple soulmates, platonic or romantic.
Relationships: Ben Parker & Peter Parker, Harley Keener & Tony Stark, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, May Parker & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 106
Kudos: 809
Collections: Irondad and his Iron kids, Parkner Soulmate Collection, Peter Parker's Tales, The Best Harley Keener & (or /) Peter Parker Fics, The Best of the Best MCU Fics





	1. Peter: Age 7

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Cecilia and the Satellite by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

Peter has always been obsessed with his soul quotes. They seemed so important for a few small words scribbled on his skin. One Friday night when he was 7, his curiosity about the words got to be too much and he went to ask uncle Ben and aunt May about the quotes.

“Each one of these phrases on your skin are half of a quote. For each one of them, there’s someone out there that’ll finish the quote, the same way they’ll match a part of you.” Aunt May gave Peter a soft smile as uncle Ben pulled his hands close, tracing a finger over the words visible on the boy’s wrist.

“The colors tell you what they’ll mean to you. Green is for siblings, blue is for your parents or kids, purple for your friends, and red for that special person who’ll complete you.” Uncle Ben turned to face May, his glance lingering on the red quote peaking out on her shoulder.

Peter liked the idea of having a “soulmate”, like uncle Ben called them. It meant he had someone to play with, someone to spend time with that wouldn’t leave him. Not like his parents did. 

That night he stood in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He tried to count all of the quotes marked in ink on his skin. 5 sentences, each in different handwriting, littered his small body. He tried to read all of them, struggling with the writing curving around him. The one on his right wrist was easy to read. The words _With great power_ were written in a deep blue in a sharp scrawl. He wondered what power it was talking about. 

The one on his ankle wasn’t too hard to read either, even if he had to twist a bit to see the entire purple phrase saying _The world's not perfect_. He already knew that, he didn't need it written on his skin. 

Shaking his head, he moved on to the next one. It wrapped around his waist in blue ink. Peter tried to read the upside down quote before giving up, maybe he would ask May the next day. There was another upside down one written on his collarbone in red, placed just high enough to peak out over his shirt collars, but not enough to read. He decided to ask May about that one too and gave up on trying to read the rest. He found his last one written on his shoulder, a wide cursive covering most of his upper left arm in blue ink. He tried to look on his back, but no matter how much he craned his neck, he couldn’t see anything. Shrugging, he continued to get ready for the night.

* * *

Later, when Ben was tucking Peter into bed, Peter asked, “Uncle Ben, how many quotes do you have?”

Ben sat down on the side of the bunk bed, looking up at the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. “I have 3. One of them is your dad, the other is your aunt May.”

Peter sat up, any residual sleepiness gone from his eyes. “What about the other one?”

Ben just smiled. “I think it’s you.”

Peter just gasped. “Really! Which one?”

Ben chuckled and leaned over to ruffle Peter’s hair. “Yup bud.” He pulled up a sleeve to show the words, _comes great responsibility,_ written on his wrist in the same place as Peter.

Peter scooted forward to trace the words that matched his own deep blue one, written in a scrawl that looked like a neater version of his own handwriting. He looked back at the words on his own wrist, recognizing his uncle’s penmanship. He looked back up at his uncle and beamed. “I’m glad you’re my soulmate.” 

Ben grinned. “I’m glad you’re my soulmate too, now come on and go to bed bud. We can talk more about this in the morning. He leaned over and kissed Peter on his forehead before turning off the lights and closing the door.

* * *

The next morning aunt May came into the bathroom to help Peter take a bath. As he stepped out of the tub, he turned to face his aunt, a question ready on his tongue. “Aunt May, could you help me read my soul quotes?” 

She crouched down in front of him. “Of course pumpkin. I heard about your conversation with your uncle yesterday. Which one do you want me to read first?”

He turned around, pointing at his back. “Are there any here? I couldn’t see them yesterday.

“Hmm, well I see one on your neck.” She tickled his neck and he started giggling.

He turned to swat away his aunt’s hand, a pout on his face. “Stop that aunt May!” 

May smiled at him. “Okay, okay. Let’s see what’s here.” She read out the neat small handwriting written on the back of Peter’s neck in purple. “ _and I hope I have made them right_.”

Peter’s face scrunched up in confusion. “Made what right?” May moved to look at Peter’s face. “I don’t know sweetie. You’ll know when you find whoever has the other half of that quote. 

“When will I meet them?”

May gave him a sad smile. “Nobody knows when you’ll meet your soulmates. But eventually, we always have a way of finding them.”

Peter didn’t think it was fair to have to wait so long. How would he be able to meet them if he had no way of knowing who they were except for these quotes? His quotes were all under his clothes. His soulmate’s quotes probably were too.

May, sensing what Peter was thinking, lifted the boy up into a hug. “Don’t worry about it, you’ll find them soon. They want to meet you just as much as you do them. Now, let’s look at the rest.”

Peter just nodded and pointed at the one on his waist. May crouched before smiling at the blue messy handwriting. "It says _to end in blood_." 

Peter frowned at the idea of blood. "Why are you smiling? Blood is icky."

May rolled up her shirt to show a matching line written in the same handwriting Peter saw on uncle Ben the previous day. He moved to get a closer look, struggling to read the words: " _Family doesn't have_." He looked up at his aunt. "Why are you showing me this?"

May just leaned in to give Peter another hug. " _Family doesn't have to end in blood_." May strung the two fragments together. 

Peter looked up at his aunt with hope. "Does that mean we're soulmates?" 

She looked into his wide doe eyes and smiled before kissing the words on his waist. "That's right baby. And I promise I'm never letting you go."

They stayed there like that for a few minutes, holding onto each other. Slowly, Peter pulled away and pointed at his shoulder. "What about this one?"

May looked at the blue ink, surprised that Peter had 3 blue lines. She assumed it was for his kid, happy that her boy's family would always be filled with so much love. Looking up at the patiently waiting boy, she read out the phrase, _"you can either run from it or learn from it."_

Peter knew he wasn't going to get any answers about who it might be or what the quote was about, so he decided to think about it later.

May, noticing his silence, moved onto the line written in red on his collarbone. "This is the last one!"

Peter looked down, tilting his head as far down as he could to see the words May read out, " _I know this whole city thinks it needs you_."

Peter glazed his fingers over the red ink. It was the same color as the line on aunt May’s shoulder. “Does this one belong to the person I’m going to marry someday?”

May laughed. “It belongs to the person who’ll love you the way I do your uncle.” Peter gasped, childlike wonder evident in every part of his being. May stood up, continuing, “That makes 6 beautiful phrases. Now come on, we’ve spent enough time here, your uncle is probably where we’ve gone.”

Peter finished getting ready and followed his aunt out the door, the phrases engraved in the back of his mind, but far from thought at the mention of pancakes. 


	2. Harley: Age 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone brought it to my attention that I forgot to mention what color the words on Peter's neck were. They're purple and I've edited Chapter 1 to match that. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy Harley's part. This one's a little smaller, but I didn't want to move on to the next section just yet, so bear with some smaller chapters on Harley's part for now.

Harley didn't know what soul quotes were until he was 9. His teacher had mentioned them in passing during class one day and Harley saw this as his chance to finally understand the words marked on his skin.

His teacher looked at him in confusion when he came up to her desk at the end of the day with all of the confidence and pride a 4th grader could have, asking about them. “Your mother never told you?”

Harley could barely hide a scowl. Of course everyone else’s parents told them. Meanwhile he was stuck with a dad that left and a mom who was never around to care. He shook his head, looking away when his teacher looked at him with sympathy. He didn’t know why she even asked, it wasn’t like everyone in this small town didn’t already know. Her mom spent long enough in the only bar in town for everyone to stop wondering. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her hold Abby. He couldn’t remember the last time she held him. It was a small wonder she was still making enough money for them to survive. 

He shook his head as his teacher’s words brought him back. “These words will lead you to your soulmates, the people who will mean more to you than anyone else. The colors explain what they’ll be to you. Each phrase on your skin has another half marked in the same place on someone else.”

Harley just nodded, his head running with everything that could mean. His teacher continued to explain all of the details, leaving Harley with far too much to think about. The idea that there were people out there who were destined to stay with him seemed so preposterous. His parents were supposed to stay with him and care for him, but they didn’t care. Who said these “soulmates” of his were going to stay?

* * *

Later that day he stood in front of the bathroom mirror, counting out the measly lines on his skin. He traced out the single red, blue, and green phrases on his body, wondering who could possibly have the other halves. The blue one couldn’t possibly belong to his parents, his mom didn’t have one and he couldn’t even think about the idea that his dad was meant to stay and chose to go anyway. 

His parents didn’t have any red lines ribboning their own skin. He never saw any when they went out swimming in the pond nearby, but he could barely remember his dad anyway. Against all of his efforts, he started to wonder if the reason his dad left was because they didn’t have those words tying them together. If maybe, it wasn’t his fault, like the man had said so many times 4 year ago. He shook his head. He couldn’t know anything for sure. What if they were soulmates, and his dad left anyway. What did it mean for all of this fate stuff if he did? It would just be better to stay away from anyone who might match. He didn’t need anymore of this, not when he had to take care of Abby.

He disregarded the red phrase on his collarbone; there was nothing he could do about them now. Still, he couldn't help but run out and grab a paper to write them down. He took a red crayon before writing  _ but not as much as I do. _

Next he moved on to the blue one.  _ We’ll pass it on to you, we’ll give the world to you.  _ Maybe the blue line on his forearm was for someone he hasn’t met yet. Either way, he wasn't going to find them soon in this town. Not when everyone here already knew everything about him. He wrote it down that quote too, taking his time to spell out the long phrase.

That left the green one on his thigh. The one for siblings. That obviously belonged to his baby sister Abby. The almost 4 year old was in the next room, just barely old enough for the words on her skin to be legible. A soft look formed on his face at the thought of his sister.

He snuck into the next room, slowly pulling the blanket off of the little girl taking a nap. She had fallen asleep as soon as he had brought her back from their neighbors. He didn’t know what they would do if their elderly neighbor hadn’t promised to watch her while he was at school. 

He looked back at his sister. The 3 year old was wearing shorts, and Harley rolled them up to the place on her thigh that matched his. Sure enough, there was a green mark there. Harley couldn't read it yet, it was too blurry, but he could tell it finished his own  _ We may grow in opposite directions _ . He smiled at his sister before tucking her back in, the girl still softly sleeping. His quote may say that they will go their separate ways, but he vowed to always be there for her. 

Maybe this soulmate thing wasn't all bad. It represented how much he cared for his sister. Everyone else could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, brownie points for whoever can guess what the full quotes are and where they're from!
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr @lilacsandlilies4  
> or on discord @LilacsAndLilies


	3. Peter: Ages 7, 14, and 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m here! I’ve been really busy at school so this is a little late. To make up for that, it's a little longer. This chapter includes some stuff before and after homecoming. This fic follows homecoming canon exactly. The only difference is the scene from civil war. There’s a lot of quick little scenes here.  
> Sorry, but there’s no Parkner here either. I promise it’s coming soon!  
> Edit: There were a couple continuity errors in the second section with Tony, which have hopefully now been fixed.

The Monday after that enlightening discussion, Peter went into school and went straight to his friend. Peter and Ned had been friends for 2 years already, and from Peter’s 7 year old point of view, that was a long time. Who would be friends with him for 2 whole years and not be his soulmate? 

He went up to Ned during recess, the two of them settled in their little corner of the room, surrounded by lego pieces to play with while locked inside for the winter.

“Hey Ned, you know what the soul quotes are right?”

Ned dropped the blue lego in his hand before turning to face his friend, a wide grin on his face. “Yeah! Aren’t they so cool? My parents told me about them a couple months ago but they said not to talk to anyone about it because they didn’t know who knew about them yet or not, but now that you know we can talk about it!’

All constructions now forgotten, Peter moved closer to Ned. “Yeah, my aunt and uncle told me about them this weekend.” Peter paused, a shy expression on his face. “I was wondering what yours were and if we had any in common.” 

Ned’s face lit up at the idea. “I thought the same thing! I was like, if anyone was going to be one of my soulmates it would definitely be you right? I have two purple ones so one of them has to match up with you.”

Peter gave Ned a big toothy smile. He leaned in closer, loudly whispering in the other boy’s ear. “I have one on my ankle and one on my neck. ”

Confusion painted itself on Ned’s face at Peter’s sudden whispers, before being replaced with excitement. “I have one on my ankle too!” He began to take off his shoe and roll down his long white socks.

Peter, catching on to what the other boy was doing, began doing the same. Soon enough, both of them sat there, comparing the words on their ankles. Peter recognized the writing on his friend’s skin, the same handwriting he had seen on his uncle and aunt just days before spelling out _but it’s not that bad_ in purple ink. Peter looked up at his friend, watching as the other boy’s face displayed all of the excitement they both felt.

“Peter! That’s my handwriting!” Ned nudged Peter, before moving to put on his shoe again. 

“I know!” Peter couldn’t believe that he’d already found 3 of his soulmates. He couldn’t wait to tell Ben and May. “Hey, Ned, do you want to come over tomorrow?” Peter wanted to show the matching quotes to his aunt and uncle.

“I hope so. I’ll ask my parents today.” Ned paused before moving to give Peter a hug. “I’m glad we’re friends.”

“Me too.”

Soon enough, they pulled away, focusing back on their legos. For the rest of recess, Peter couldn’t help but smile to himself. He’d already found 3 of 6 of his soulmates. Aunt May said it would take a while, but he already found half of them! It couldn’t take too long to find the rest of them.

* * *

Peter was wrong. It had been 7 years since that fateful day, and he had yet to meet another one of his soulmates. He had been ok with that though. He was more than happy with the 3 he had met so far. And now, sitting in the pouring rain as his uncle died in his arms, he would trade away the remaining 3 just to get him back.

“Ben, please you can’t go.” Peter couldn’t tell if the water on his cheeks was his tears or if the rain had gotten any harder. He gripped his uncle’s hand, tracing the words on his wrist. “You can’t leave me.”

Ben coughed before wincing in pain, the bullet wound a gaping hole in his stomach. “I’m sorry Peter. I wish it didn’t have to end like this. Just-” He winced and turned. “Just know that I love you. Tell your aunt that I'm sorry and don’t- don’t forget this.” He pointed to the words on Peter’s wrist before giving the teen one last weak smile.

Peter felt his uncle go limp in his hands. “No! Ben come back! Ben you- you can’t just-” Peter screamed out for an ambulance, for anybody to come help. He looked down at his wrists to see the words turn black.

* * *

A week later he found himself at Ben’s funeral with aunt May and Ned right beside him. He couldn’t help but blame himself for his uncle’s death. Everything he thought about led back to that night, as he saw his uncle fall, the mugger running away. He was different now, he had all these weird abilities, but none of them helped him save his uncle. His eyes fell back down to the black words on his wrist, the _With great power_ taunting him, reminding him that he would never see the other half of those words again. He looked over at his aunt, and watched as she struggled not to cry. She slowly lifted her hand to touch her shoulder, and Peter saw her own now black words peek out from her sleeve.

He looked at his uncle’s coffin, thinking about the last words he said. Don’t forget your quote. His uncle had smiled at him and Peter had a feeling that his uncle knew about his new found powers. Why else would he remind him about the words on his wrist, about the power he now had? Standing there, between his two remaining soulmates, he made a decision. He wouldn’t let anyone hurt them, or any of the rest of his soulmates. And hopefully, he could save more than just them.

* * *

Peter could not believe what was happening. Tony Stark was in his room asking him about Spider-Man. He tried to snap out of the shock that Iron Man knew who he was.

“Why are you doing this? I gotta know. What's your MO? What gets you outta that twin bed in the morning?” Tony looked at him and asked. 

Peter looked down at his wrist, a somber expression on his face. "Because- because, as someone important to me told me a long time ago, _with great power comes great responsibility,_ and- and when you can do the things that I can, but you don't…" Peter's voice wavered and he blinked back tears as he remembered his uncle dying in his arms, "and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you."

Tony followed the teen's glance down to the pitch black words written on his wrist and suddenly felt sorely out of his depth. He grasped for another topic as he plastered on his press face again, hoping the teen didn't see how much his words had affected him.

"So, you got a passport?"

* * *

Peter didn’t know what he was expecting today, but it definitely wasn’t this. 

After the whole mess with the plane during homecoming, Tony started inviting him over more to work on the suits and stuff. Slowly, working on the suits became working in the lab in general, which slowly became movie nights and spending time together. After the whole plane event, Tony had decided against selling the tower, something Peter was grateful for, considering how the tower had now become practically a second home to him. After his aunt had gotten over him being Spider-Man and had finally decided that Tony could be trusted, she was grateful for having someone else to watch over Peter. He spent practically every other day at the tower, just messing around in the lab, training, doing homework, or helping out in SI. That was all normal for him, he had come to expect it.

What he didn’t expect was Tony joining him to train today. The older man almost never came down to the training room, preferring to practice alone. He said it was because he “didn’t need to train. His suit had more than enough power for him,” but Peter didn’t believe that. Tony made sure Peter was capable without the suit, there was no reason the man didn’t do the same. For all that Tony called himself a hypocrite, he still did the right things. Peter assumed that Tony just wanted space and left him alone. Hence the surprise when the billionaire walked into the training room in a tank top. 

“Uh, Mr. Stark? What are you doing here?” Peter walked over from where he was stretching.

“What does it look like? I’m here to exercise with you. And how many times have I told you to call me Tony?” Tony gave him a pointed look before shrugging, pretending like this was completely normal.

Peter ignored the question. He was more than comfortable enough with the man to call him Tony, but somehow, he couldn’t get the words out. They just seemed... wrong. As for the man's presence here, he was more than a little confused, but he decided to keep exercising, keeping an eye on Tony while doing so. Tony joined him on the mat in stretching. 

Once Peter was done, he got up and walked past Tony to go to the machines that had been made for sparring against. As he walked by, he couldn’t help but notice a blue line on his shoulder, matching the same location where his own quote was, hidden under the sleeve of his shirt. 

He froze, his mind instantly going to what that could mean. He’d long since accepted that he saw Tony as a sort of father figure, but he'd never really said anything about it. Tony avoided the topic much in the same way, but Peter could tell the man cared about him too. People around the tower saw them like father and son, something which neither of them really moved to stop, but never confirmed either. Still, this was something he'd never considered. He hoped it was, but he didn't want to assume.

He started going down the list. Pepper didn’t want kids and Tony never had a good relationship with his parents. Tony loved his mother but it was never the best connection, at least from what Peter could tell from Tony’s stories. Wait, but what about that kid he mentioned every once in a while. Was he Tony's soulmate? The little flicker of hope inside him dampened.

Of course, Tony noticed when Peter froze while standing right next to him. He opened his mouth to ask Peter what had happened before closing it again, choosing instead to follow the teen’s line of sight straight to the blue quote on his shoulder. The teen’s mouth had fallen open. Tony had to force himself not to try to cover his soul quote. The bright blue quotes on his shoulder and forearm had always been a source of confusion and disappointment for him, at least until a few years ago, and even though he was more comfortable with them now, years of reflex fought within him. He learnt young that neither of his parents had any connection with him, no matter how much he wished they did. Maybe then, they might have cared more for him. No- his mother cared, she cared so much, but even she couldn’t do anything when Howard was around, and for that, they all grew apart. He had sworn never to have kids but the two blue quotes always taunted him, telling him otherwise. All of that changed when he met Harley a couple years ago, when the kid wriggled his way into his heart and never left. 

Still, his mind treated Harley like an isolated case, a miracle never to be repeated. But now that he really considered it, the way he thought about Peter wasn't that much different from Harley. Peter was like a son to him, a fact which he wanted to share out loud to everyone he knew, but didn't, for fear that Peter didn't feel the same. He hadn’t let himself consider that maybe the line on his shoulder belonged to Peter. The teen had fit himself into Tony's life perfectly and Tony could no longer imagine his life without the spiderling in it. And from the way Peter was looking at him, maybe the teen felt the same. 

Peter noticed Tony looking at him. How long had he just been standing there? “Uh, I- I just,” Peter scrambled for an excuse.

Tony put up a hand and gave Peter a warm smile. “I know you were looking at my soul quote. Do you want to know what it says?”

Peter started nodding frantically, before slowing down so as not to look too eager. He didn’t think Tony would just give it to him, but apparently Parker luck wasn’t all bad.

Tony started “ _ Oh yes, the past can hurt, but from the way I see it...” _

Peter felt the urge to finish the phrase with his own. “ _ you can either run from it or learn from it.” _ His mouth practically moved of its own accord and Peter could feel that they fit together just right. 

Tony looked up at Peter in shock. He hadn't expected to find another amazing kid that the universe decided could be his. He had pushed Peter away at the beginning because he didn't want to ruin him, but maybe he wasn't going to. Peter sat down on the floor next to Tony as he tried to process that all of his speculations were actually true. Maybe that Harley kid wasn't Tony's soulmate, or maybe Tony had another mark somewhere. They both just looked at each other for a couple minutes before Tony smirked and said. “So is this enough for you to start calling me Tony?”

“I guess… Tony.” Peter grinned. Both of them broke out in laughter before getting back up to continue exercising, just as close as before, and yet, so much closer.

* * *

Peter didn’t think he could be more stressed than he was. He was wrong. Finals week was in full swing and he barely had time to breath. Peter and Ned were both over at MJ’s house, furiously cramming for their history final the following day. The only sounds that could be heard in the room were flipping pages, pencils scratching on paper, and highlighters being capped.

The ambience of the room was broken when Peter groaned and fell on MJ’s bed. “Why do I need to know about all of these dead people?”

MJ just shot him a look. “Because you would never forgive yourself if you failed this. And because if we don’t learn from history, we just keep making the same mistakes. It’s how you can tell that politicians have never opened a history textbook in their lives.” She put down her pencil to tie her hair up in a bun. 

“I guess you’re right.” Peter sighed and pulled himself up. He took a double take after looking at MJ and realized that he had never actually seen her with her hair up. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair up.”

MJ froze, looking like a deer in headlights. She reached a hand up to pull down her bun, before stopping and dropping her hand. Her eyes fixed on his with a look of steely determination. She took a deep breath and turned around. “This is why.” 

Peter got up to see what it was she was referring to, and took a sharp breath when he saw purple words on the back of her neck, in the same place as his own. He read the words on her neck, his own following after hers. “ _I have hated the words, and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right._ But- but, mine have been on display for you to see. You could have said something about it all year, but you didn’t. Why?”

MJ turned back to face Peter. “I- I was scared. My parents were soulmates but she still left. She loves my dad, but it wasn’t enough to stay. She says she wants to see him, but she couldn’t care less about me. I- I’ve seen the pain that these words bring, and I didn’t want to bring that upon myself. Why do you think I stayed so far away for so long?’ MJ looked at him with more emotion than he’d ever seen her before. 

He moved closer and gave her a hug, before whispering in her ear, “I’m not going anywhere.” 

MJ smiled as she felt Ned join the hug. Slowly, she pulled away before grinning. “If we’re revealing secrets, then it’s your turn to tell me one, Peter.”

Peter’s face twisted in confusion, the notes now far abandoned. “What do you mean?”

MJ smirked. “Oh I don’t know, something about swinging around the streets in a onesie?”

Peter gawked at her. “But- but- how?”

“Just keep studying loser, we can’t afford to waste more time.” She turned her head down to look at her textbook again, smiling all the while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ned and MJ are also soulmates, but I didn't want to clutter the scene, so you can assume they revealed that afterwards.
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr @lilacsandlilies4  
> or on discord @LilacsAndLilies


	4. Harley: Age 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a little out of character in a couple different ways, but bear with me for the AU's sake. All dialogue is straight from a transcript, but i did mess with actions and thought processes a little. It wouldn't be an au if I didn't mess with canon in some way 😄.

“Freeze! Don’t move!”

Harley yelled at the intruder in his living room. His mom was once again out at the dinner and with his sister over at a friend’s house, he was the only one there. 

“You got me. Nice potato gun. Barrel's a little long. Between that and the wide gauge, it's gonna diminish your FPS.” The stranger turned to face him. Harley thought he looked familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why. Whoever it was, he wouldn’t stand someone insulting his potato gun. He pointed it at a faraway board. The potato fell splat on top of it. He turned to face the stranger, daring him to risk it. 

“And now you're out of ammo.” Harley hid a grin. If he wanted to assume that, then sure.

Harley took a step forward and tried to get a closer look at the man. He seemed to be fiddling with something on his forearm. Were those… wires? Harley tried to see exactly what it was. Upon recognizing it, he gasped and took a step back. There were blue words on the man’s forearm, in the same place as Harley’s own, written in the boy’s handwriting. Harley instinctively pulled his sleeve further down. He tried to cover his shock with a question. “What's that thing on your chest?”

“It's a electromagnet. You should know, you've got a box of them right here.” The man continued to look down at his hands. 

Harley rolled his eyes. He knew that. “What does it power?”

The man moved to the side to reveal an iron man suit. Harley dropped his gun, his mouth wide open in shock. All of the points here were starting to connect. “Oh my god! That... that's... Is that Iron Man?” He moves forward to get a closer look before stopping himself.

“Technically I am.” The stranger said with a smirk. Well, Harley thought, he wasn’t a stranger anymore. Tony Stark was in his living room. Tony Stark was his soulmate. There was no way that was possible, there had to be something wrong. There was no way that Tony Stark, a billionaire and a literal superhero, was his soulmate. He needed to see that quote more closely.

Suddenly, Harley got an idea. He grabbed a rolled up newspaper from a nearby table and walked over to the man before slapping it on his chest. “Technically, you’re dead.” He took the opportunity at the man’s shock to take a closer look at his quote.  _ If we lay a strong enough foundation. _ It felt like it fit. It felt... right. 

The man said something, but Harley didn’t register what it was. He moved over to the suit, trying to get a hold of his thoughts. Harley needed to take his mind off of all of this. It wasn’t like he wanted a soulmate anyway. He didn’t need someone who would leave him, and there was no way a man like The Tony Stark was going to stay back for him. There was no point in mentioning it, it didn’t matter. So he led the conversation back to important things. “What happened to him?”

The conversation went well after that, Harley got to learn more about the suit, maybe impressed the man with his comment about the retro reflective panels. He didn’t know why he felt like he had to impress anyone, but he just wanted to seem important, like he meant something. Maybe he just wanted to keep the other man safe. After all, it was Tony Stark.

Of course, nothing could stay away for too long and the conversation came back to his terrible family life. “So, uh, who's home?”

“Well, my mom already left for the diner and dad went to 7-Eleven to get scratchers. I... I guess he won, 'cause that was six years ago.” Harley couldn’t help but be sour about it. 

“Mm. Which happens, dads leave. No need to be a pussy about it. Here's what I need: a laptop, a digital watch, a cell phone, the pneumatic actuator from your bazooka over there, a map of town, a big spring, and a tuna fish sandwich.”

Harley looked up at the man in shock. He knew he needed to get over it, but that was so rude and wow there was no way he was going to say anything about being soulmates. He didn’t need this. “What's in it for me?”

“Salvation. What's his name?” 

Harley’s face twisted in confusion. “Who?’

“The kid that bullies you at school, what's his name?” 

Harley’s mouth fell open. “How'd you know that?” 

“I got just the thing.” He opened a compartment on his suit and took out a small metal object. “This is a pinata for a cricket. I'm kidding, it's a very powerful weapon. Point it away from your face, press the button on top. It discourages bullying. Non-lethal, just to cover one's ass.”

Harley reached out his hand, but Tony quickly moved back. “Deal? Deal? What'd you say?”

“Deal.” Harley’s head was swimming. First the man tells him to get over his father leaving, but then he notices that he was being bullied and helps? 

“Deal?” The voice snaps Harley out of his thoughts. He takes the object out of Tony’s hand. “What's your name?”

“Harley. And you're…” He didn’t want to say, even if he already knew. 

“The mechanic. Tony” And with that name, Harley got lost in his internal struggle once again.

* * *

Harley could not believe what had happened to him in the last couple hours. Is this what it was like being around Tony Stark? He didn’t think he could keep it up. Still, he couldn’t help but feel giddy inside. He had saved Tony Stark. 

“You’re welcome” Harley couldn’t help but mention something about it.

The man stopped walking, startled. “For what? Did I miss something?”

“Me saving your life.” Harley thought he sounded a little cocky, but considering what happened, he deserved it. 

The man just looked at him, a disapproving look in his eyes. It looked almost… paternal. NO, Harley yelled at himself, don’t get attached, he’s not going to stay, and you don’t need him to. 

“Yeah. A, saved you first. B, thanks, sort of. And C, if you do someone a solid, don't be a yutz, alright? Just play it cool otherwise you come off grandiose.” And there goes that attempt. 

“Unlike you? Admit it, you need me. We're connected.” Harley could have laughed at how true that statement was. 

The man looked at him in confusion. Harley felt Tony's brown eyes bore into his own, asking why that seemed so important to both of them. Then he shook his head. "What I need is for you to go home, be with your mom, keep your trap shut, guard the suit and stay connected to the telephone because if I call, you better pick up. Okay, can you feel that? We're done here. Move it out the way or I'm going to run you over. Bye kid." Tony got in his car, looking at Harley with worry. "I'm sorry, kid, you did good."

Suddenly Harley felt like he had to do something, anything, to get the man to stay. "So now you're just going to leave me here, like my dad?" He didn't know what pushed him to say it, but he meant every word. 

Tony froze. He took a deep breath "You're guilt tripping me, aren't you?

Harley wanted to say no, he wanted to scream at the older man, to pull up his sleeve and show him the words on his forearm. But instead he kept quiet and tried to play it off. 

"I'm cold." 

Tony gave him another worried look and Harley almost felt like the other man didn't want to leave either. But that was ridiculous.

"I can tell. You know how I can tell? Cus we're connected." Tony drove away, and for all of the sarcasm in his voice, Harley hoped that there was some part of the statement that was simple honesty.

* * *

It was several days later and Harley had almost gotten over the whole incident. That was, of course, before he opened his garage door to see a fully updated lab. 

"Woah." He took off his jacket and began to look around at all of the cool things there. In the center he found a note saying everything was from "the mechanic." 

He couldn't believe Tony had done all of this for him, but right now he was a little too excited to respond. However, the final touch was when someone stepped out from behind the door.

Harley squinted, trying to figure out who it was, before gasping as Tony stepped into view.

"But, but, why are you here again?" Harley almost winced at how harsh that sounded, but right now he couldn't bring himself to care. 

Tony smirked. "Thought I'd see the reaction to my gift myself. So, reactions?” He walked closer to Harley.

Harley just looked around, continuing his starstruck sweep of the room. “This is so cool! I can’t believe you did this for me.” He turned to face Tony as some of the brightness in his face dimmed. “Why did you do this for me?” 

Tony just shrugged. “You helped me out. I didn’t want to just leave you without paying that back. Maybe your guilt tripping worked a little bit.”

Harley smiled at him shyly. “Guess it did.” He took off his backpack and walked over to the desk with the ‘potato gun mark II’. He started to gesture at it before freezing and realizing that his forearm was out in the open. He quickly moved to roll down his sleeves but Tony suddenly froze from behind him and he knew he was too late. 

“Your- your soulmark. It matches mine.” Tony reached out to touch Harley’s hand, but Harley pulled away. “How?” His voice quivered and he sounded like a teenager again, begging his mother to explain why she didn’t stop Howard. 

Harley just looked up at Tony, almost surprised by how different he seemed. He thought he had seen the man at his worst with the panic attacks, but this was different. This was a kind of emotional vulnerability that he had only ever seen in himself. Maybe they were more alike than he thought. 

Tony’s head swiveled to face Harley. “You aren’t shocked, why?”

Harley opened his mouth, but no words came out. He fumbled for an excuse, anything to avoid saying that he already knew and just didn’t say anything because he was afraid- because he thought he didn’t need another soulmate. 

“You already knew didn’t you?” He had a confused look on his face, and Harley felt like he had disappointed the man in some way. He probably did.

Harley looked down at his feet before nodding his head softly. Tony just looked away. Harley could hear Tony taking deep breaths and he started to panic. Of course this was bothering him. Why would Tony want him around? Everybody in his life left, of course Tony would too. 

“Th- This can’t be possible. There’s no way the world decided that I would be any good for you.” Tony looked like he was going to completely freak out. He started pacing around and Harley felt the last bit of hope he had die. This was Tony, telling him that he didn’t want Harley around. Harley knew he shouldn’t have expected anything else. 

“I’m sorry you had to see this. I never wanted you to know anyway. You can leave if you want. You don’t need to pretend like you care.” Harley’s voice was rough as he picked up his stuff and walked into the house. As the door slammed shut behind him he heard Tony whisper, “It’s not you, kid-” and that sealed the deal for Harley. He didn’t need to hear the rest of that statement to know when someone was rejecting him.

He opened his homework and tried his hardest to focus on it, but all of his thoughts led back to the man in the next room. He couldn’t hear much, just the sounds of some tools and occasionally, some talking. He couldn’t help but worry about what was going to happen now. Why hadn’t Tony left already? He had made it clear enough that he didn’t want Harley. That he didn’t want any of this. 

It was several hours later when Tony opened the door and walked in, his face indifferent and stoic. “Ok, so the first thing you need to know is, what just happened there was not your fault. I would be lucky to have a kid like you. I’ve just- I’m not the best person to always be around. I had a pretty rough relationship with my parents and I think almost everyone in my life would call me the opposite of child friendly. If this were anyone else, I would just walk away. I don’t need- I don’t want to ruin anyone else’s life. But, I feel like I should spend more time with you and I don’t want to make you resent your soulmate, so I’m willing to try something. It depends on what you want.”

Harley took a sharp breath. He didn’t know what he was expecting but it wasn’t this. Tony Stark was standing in front of him, telling him that even though they had no obligation to each other, he was willing to try and be a part of Harley’s life. Was this real? Was Tony being sincere, or was he just acting out of obligation?

“Are you just saying that or do you mean that? Because I’ve had too many people leave me and if you’re going to be another one of them you can go now.” Harley snapped at Tony. He might just be a kid but he had been hurt too many times already.

Tony reeled back. “No I- I- I don’t let my soulmates just slip out of my grasp. I just need you to know that it’s hard for me too. My father was an asshole and I don’t want to be like him. I just don’t know if I can be better. I want to try.” Tony looked broken. Harley wanted to trust this but how could he?

“What do you want to do?” He needed more information, needed to know this was real. 

“I’m going to go back to New York now, but over the summer, if you and your mom are ok with it, you can come by the tower. And, I’m leaving my phone number. Maybe we can talk some more.” Tony looked almost hopeful, like he wanted to spend time with Harley. Harley still couldn’t wrap his head around that one.

“Can my sister come?” There was no way he was leaving his 5 year old sister here alone. His mom, on the other hand, would probably be happy to have them out.

Tony paused. “Sure.”

Well now it was just up to him. Was he willing to try, to reach out to someone who might actually be a father, a parent to him?

Finally, he made his decision. He looked up at Tony before grinning and putting his hand out. “Deal.”


	5. First Encounters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! I was working on some other fics, but now I'm back and focused on this one again. This is set at the end of Peter's sophomore year, a couple weeks after the section with MJ from two chapters ago.

Peter had just finished his last final, and he was so happy to finally be done. He walked into the tower, a wide smile on his face. Soon after realizing that he and Tony were soulmates, Aunt May finally agreed to move into the tower as per Tony’s endless requests. The man said he wanted to keep them safe, and May couldn’t say no to anything that would make Peter happier. All of this resulted in Peter being able to see the man almost daily. His aunt’s shift went until almost dinner, meaning as soon as Peter got to the tower, he headed straight to the lab to see Tony working on something. 

“Whatcha doin?” Peter dropped his backpack off at the door before strolling up to the man and peering over his shoulder. 

“Same thing I always am." Tony put down the tools in his hand and turned to face Peter, who had settled down on a nearby work bench. "How was the English final?"

Peter began pulling out his own projects. "Well. There were a couple questions that were kinda tricky, but I think I did ok."

"Well that's good. Now, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. You remember that kid I told you about? Harley?”

Peter nodded, wondering where Tony was going with this. “Well, Harley normally comes by for the summer, so I just wanted to let you know that he’ll be here sometime tomorrow. I’m excited to introduce both of you to each other, you’re both practically my kids.”

Peter froze. He should have known this was going to happen. They were going to have to meet eventually. He looked up at Tony. The man had a hopeful look in his face and Peter didn’t want to dash those hopes. He mustered up a grin and said, “I’m excited to meet him too.” Tony just smiled at him and they both quickly fell back into their regular motions in the lab. 

Later that night Peter decided to talk to his aunt. Peter went to his aunt’s room as soon as her shift had ended. “Harley’s coming tomorrow.”

May took Peter’s sudden comment in stride. “Is that not a good thing? You’ll finally get to meet him.”

“Yes, but, well, Harley’s known Tony longer and…”

May turned to face Peter. “You’ve known Ned for longer than MJ, does he hold a higher friendship position than she does?” She sat down on the bed and gestured for Peter to sit next to her. 

He fell onto the bed. “Well no, but-”

“Exactly. You and Harley are both like sons to Tony. He’ll be happy to have both of you together. You don’t need to worry about whatever you have imagined in your head. He won’t treat either of you any differently. Try to become friends with him, you never know what might happen.” May pulled him into a hug. “Don’t worry about it, pumpkin. Everything will be fine. Tony loves you just as much as I do, and nothing is going to change that.”

Peter fell into her embrace. “Thanks May. Larb you.”

“I larb you too. Now come on, let’s go to dinner.” May slowly pulled away before heading out the door, Peter following behind her. 

They entered the dining room to see Pepper and Tony already at the table, with Happy carrying some boxes in from the elevator. “What’s for dinner?” Peter asked, looking at the takeout boxes in Happy’s hands.

“Chinese.” Happy dropped the boxes on the table and took a seat. With all five of them settled in, they all began to eat.”

“So Tony, what’s this I hear about a new addition to our household?” Peter gave his aunt a look, but she just waved him off.

Tony raised an eyebrow at Peter, before turning to face May. “Yeah, Harley’s going to be staying with us for the summer. The first couple times his sister came with, but now she’s adamant that she can stay home alone, so it’s just him.”

“What about his parents?” May knew Harley was Tony’s soulmate and she knew the basics of when and how they had met, but everything besides that was still unknown, and she was going to make sure she knew more about the boy who was going to be living with them for the next few months. 

“Uh, well, It’s a little complicated.” The conversation took a more somber tone. Pepper gripped Tony’s hand, and he turned to her with a small smile. “His dad left, his mom’s an alcoholic who’s rarely at home. I’m the closest thing to an actual parent he has. If he would let me, I would have brought both him and his sister up here years ago, but Abby, his sister, loves it in their little town. She doesn’t want to go, and he doesn’t want to leave her. At least, not until he needs to.” 

May just nodded. “Sorry for asking. I hope we won’t make him feel uncomfortable.”

Tony shook his head. “Of course not. I’m sure he’ll love both of you.”

And with that, the conversation shifted towards other topics.

* * *

Harley was… worried. That was probably the best word for it. He had just gotten on the plane to New York after reassuring his sister that he would text her as soon as he got there. This was supposed to be like every other summer for the past 5 years. Of course, the main difference would be the addition of Peter. Tony had told him about Peter. The genius kid from Queens who happened to moonlight as Spider-Man. Someone most likely smarter than him and most definitely closer to Tony. Not to mention that he was a freaking superhero. 

Harley knew that he was close to Tony, and Tony hadn’t abandoned him yet, but he couldn’t help but be afraid of being pushed aside. Still he decided to brave the interaction. His phone buzzed, and he looked down to see a message from Tony.

_ Hey kid. When are you going to reach? Peter’s excited to meet you and the lab is calling our names. _

It felt almost like Tony knew exactly what was going on in his head and sent something to match that. It was then, in that jet, that Harley decided he would try his best, and hopefully make a new friend. 

Soon enough, the plane touched down, and Harley grabbed his stuff and walked out of the jet. Outside he saw Tony waiting for him.

“Hey old man, miss me?”

“I did until you went and insulted me. You teenagers have no respect.” Tony made a dramatic gesture before ushering Harley into the car.

The drive back was filled with conversation, and Harley brought Tony up to speed on everything that had happened to him in the last year. Soon enough, they pulled into the tower.

Harley could feel like nerves growing as the elevator slowly pulled them up to the penthouse. Once at the top, the doors opened and Harley saw someone who was probably the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He practically froze, and it took Tony tapping his shoulder several times for him to jolt back to reality.

“Harley?” Harley nodded his head and Tony continued. “Well, Harley, meet Peter.” 

This was Peter? He was screwed.

* * *

While his conversation with his aunt had done wonders towards making him feel better about meeting Harley, he still felt a little weird. It almost felt like... anticipation, which seemed odd in its own way. Still, he stood with Pepper and his aunt, waiting for Tony to get back with Harley. Finally, the elevator doors opened, and Peter saw Tony standing next to a tall blond. The teen, who was obviously Harley, had the brightest blue eyes that Peter had ever seen, and he felt a distinct urge to hold onto the boy’s hand and never let go. 

His aunt nudged him a little and he looked up at her. She had what looked like a smirk on her face. Peter glared at her before turning his attention back to Tony. 

“-meet Peter.” Peter took that as his cue to wave shyly.

“Hello.” Harley took a step forward holding his hand out to shake Peter’s. He had a really strong southern accent that was making Peter’s heart do funny things. He was starting to get the feeling that his worries that he and Harley were going to be enemies was the farthest away from his actual problems as possible. He shook the other boy’s hand before stepping back.

Pepper moved up to give the boy a hug, and Peter took the moment to get a hold on himself. He could tell this was going to be a long summer.

* * *

Harley gave Pepper a hug, taking in the familiar feeling of the penthouse. It was nice to be back. He looked around, his eyes wandering, before settling on Peter. 

“Harley, your room is right where it always is, I’m just going to check on a few things before joining you and Peter in the lab.” 

Harley just nodded, dragging his suitcase down the hallways and into his room while everyone else dispersed. He quickly unpacked before sitting down on his bed. He had thought he was going to hate Peter, but now he saw himself falling for the other boy. Now, Harley knew that he was gay, had known for years, but in a town like Rose Hill, that spelled out nothing but trouble, and he couldn’t afford to get into trouble when he was the only one who could watch Abby. Here, it was different. He’d already come out to Tony who was widely known to be very pansexual, and he knew no one here would get upset about it, but he didn’t know if Peter swung that way or not. And, we’re they both like Tony’s sons, would that make them brothers or? Harley practically gagged at the idea. It’s not like Tony had actually adopted either of them, so it was fine. He tried to convince his brain to erase the idea.

All he knew for sure was that he would like to get to know Peter better, and maybe get a date out of it, but none of those things could happen until he went down to the lab.

* * *

As soon as Harley was out of sight, Peter headed down to the lab. Tony had said he had things to check up on, but Peter had a sneaking suspicion he just wanted Harley and himself to get to know each other better. 

Peter sat down at his bench in the lab, letting his mind wander back to Harley. There was no denying the boy was cute, and Peter was secure enough in his own bisexuality to know that. But he had no way of knowing whether Harley was into that type of thing. Maybe it would just be better to act friendly, and wait for the other boy to make a move if he wanted to? 

Peter shook his head. There was no way he could do anything until he got to know Harley a little better, so he might as well push it off until then. He pulled up the schematic for his new web shooters and began working. 

Peter had gotten really involved in his project, and therefore did not hear someone come up behind him.

“That might work better if you make the barrels out of thinner material.”

Peter almost jumped in shock. He turned to see Harley standing behind him “Uh- I- I was just-”

“Working on your web shooters.” Harley smiled at him. “Can I sit there?” He gestured to the seat next to Peter.

Peter couldn’t speak, instead choosing to gesture for him to go ahead. How did Harley know the web shooters were his? Did he know Peter was Spider-Man? “How did you know?” He left the rest of the question to Harley.

Harley turned his head to the side, a confused look on his face. “Didn’t Tony tell you that he told me you were Spider-Man?”

Peter turned to face the door, willing Tony to show up so he could yell at the man. He gritted his teeth. “No, but he will be hearing words about it from me later.” 

Harley just laughed. Peter thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard and he could feel his own irritation at Tony fade away. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” Harley made a cross over his heart, a grin on his face. He leaned in closer to see the schematic in front of Peter. “So darlin’, mind telling me what you’re working on?”

Peter blushed at the pet name. Maybe his feelings were reciprocated. He pushed those thoughts away, focusing on the schematic. “Well these are the...”

* * *

It was almost an hour later when Tony finally walked back into the lab. He came in to see Harley and Peter practically glued to each other, talking about designs and handing each other tools. They acted as if they’d been working together in a lab for years and Tony couldn’t help the grin that appeared on his face. He walked back out of the lab and up to the living room, leaving both boys to work in peace.

“Hey Pep, you were right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to join a discord server and talk to more amazing people who love Parkner go here: https://discord.gg/cRkmzWR


	6. For Now and For Always

The next couple days passed by in a flurry of lab work and dinner and traveling around New York and Harley could find himself falling further and further in love with Peter. As planned, he kept flirting with Peter, and sometimes the boy even reciprocated, but neither of them really took that next step. Harley knew he was being silly, but he didn’t want to ruin this beautiful friendship they had built up, even if he knew, logically, that Peter felt the same. The matter of his own romantic soulmate had been running through Harley’s head since he’d met Peter. There was someone out there made for him, and he couldn’t help but hope that it was Peter. He had never felt this close to someone, but he couldn’t just ask Peter if he had a romantic soulmate, if it might be him. He didn’t know what he would do if Peter decided that he wasn’t worth it anymore, or if Peter had a romantic soulmate and it wasn’t him. It was more than likely to happen, considering Peter was absolutely perfect and Harley was just a random kid from Tennessee. There had to be someone better out there for Peter, someone who was made for the brunette the way Harley wasn’t. He was all harsh words and bruised knuckles, and there was no way that he was made for sweet, selfless Peter. He didn’t know why Peter even reciprocated anything Harley showed now, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He just didn’t want to get too attached, only to watch it all fly out of his reach. 

Harley had gotten up bright and early and couldn’t fall back asleep. Eventually, he dragged himself out of bed and decided to go down to the gym he knew the building had. It was Saturday morning, and Harley went down to the gym, only to freeze when he saw Peter on the mats in front of him. The brunette was mock fighting one of the robots that Tony had made for practicing. Harley was absolutely mesmerized. He watched as Peter practically flowed in time with the robot, making it look more like a choreographed dance than a fight. Harley watched the sweat slide off the teen’s face and it took all of his self restraint not to go and kiss Peter right now.

The fight ended and Peter turned to face Harley, the determined look on his face quickly morphing into a smile. “Haven’t seen you down here before. Want to work out?”

Harley just shrugged. He didn’t really know what he had come down here looking for. “I don’t know, I guess I just got up earlier than normal and decided to come down here.”

Peter hummed, his hands on his hips. “I could teach you to spar if you wanted?”

“If I get to be as close to you as that robot just was, count me in.” Harley grinned, slipping back into the casual flirting they’d be using for the last week. He would need to break that habit, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

Peter was panting too hard for him to blush anymore, but the shy smile on the superhero’s face was enough to let Harley know he’d been successful. “Well ok, then, just stretch a bit and we’ll start.” Harley followed as Peter said, going through the stretches, his anticipation for the lessons growing. 

Soon enough, Peter deemed them ready to start. He positioned himself on the ground. “This is your starting stance.” Harley tried to mimic Peter’s position. “Ok, good, now hold your hands like this. This is your main defense position.” Harley tried to copy his posture, but failed to match it. “No, like this.” Peter came up behind him, carefully guiding Harley’s hand and moving them into the right position. Harley’s arm tingled where Peter gripped onto it and Harley lost all focus on the stance. He tried not to lean into Peter, instead letting the teen’s voice wash over him as Peter continued to explain. He felt his throat go dry and all he could do was nod when Peter asked if he got it.

Peter pulled away, and Harley felt distinctly like something was missing. He shook his head, trying to focus back on Peter’s lesson. It was almost an hour later when Friday called out for both of them. “Pepper and May are waiting for you in the kitchen.” 

Harley just nodded before grabbing a towel and heading up. They had spent most of the time doing stances, and Harley didn’t really feel tired.

“Go on up, I’ll join you.” Peter’s shirt was still damp from the training he had been doing beforehand, and walked into the changing rooms nearby, leaving Harley alone on the floor. He absentmindedly stepped into the elevator as his mind went over everything that had happened in the last hour. He hadn’t been about to focus on anything that had happened, instead using all of his focus on stopping himself from kissing Peter right there and then. Of course, it didn’t look like Peter reciprocated. He was completely focused on training, and that did not bode well for Harley. Of course, it wasn’t like he expected Peter to pay more attention to him than his training, but… It was clear that Peter didn’t feel the same. If that was the case, then he would just stop pushing. No need to bother the other teen any further. If he had to settle for friendship, he would, and he would be happy with it. Neither of them would get hurt that way because they wouldn’t be close enough for it to hurt. It was just better that way.

The elevator stopped on the main floor and Harley was greeted by the smell of pancakes. He tried to push Peter off of his mind, and went to go eat.

* * *

They had spent the rest of the day skirting around each other. They talked, like normal, in the lab, but something felt off. Peter was worried he had gone too far that morning. He didn’t think anything could possibly be quite as hard as trying to teach your crush how to fight. He was right there and nobody could have stopped him from kissing Harley while standing right next to him. At least, nobody could stop him but himself. Of course, considering how Harley was acting now, it was clear that the advance would not be appreciated.

Tony, of course, didn’t see a difference. The two of them were still friendly, but it wasn’t the same flirting they had been doing all week. Not that Tony noticed the flirting either. He didn’t say anything, Harley didn’t say anything, and Peter kept his mouth shut. They worked on some projects in an awkward silence. Peter had thought, maybe Harley liked him too, but it was clear now that it was just a game. One Peter had taken too far and Harley was no longer interested in playing.

Peter looked up at the clock. It was almost 4:00. He dropped his tools on the table and stood up. The clanging alerted both Tony and Harley to the change and they turned to look up at him. “I’m going out on patrol. I’ll be back by dinner.”

Tony just gave Peter a look. “It’s a little early isn’t it?”

Peter shrugged. “Might as well take advantage of the summer free time.” Peter thought he saw a frown on Harley’s face as he walked out of the lab, but he knew it was probably just his brain trying to show him what he wanted. 

He quickly put on his suit and slipped out of a window. Soon enough, he found himself back near the familiar Queens streets. He might live in the tower, but Queens would always be his home and his place to protect. He sat down on a rooftop and just listened for anything that might be going on. He would have asked Karen for where to go, but he had muted her. He didn’t really need Karen talking to him right now when he just wanted to be alone.. He was a little annoyed that he had spent such little time on patrol in the last week, citing Harley as his main distraction. His thoughts led him back to that morning, the feeling of Harley against him, the-

“Help!” Peter snapped out of his thoughts, turning toward the source of the scream. Quickly, he swung over an alley to find a girl being threatened by some guy. They both looked like they were fresh out of college. He got straight to work, slinging a web at the man’s left hand, pulling his grip away from the girl.

“Hello Mister, what do you think you’re doing today?” He flipped next to the guy, before throwing another web at his leg, webbing him to the ground.

“Leave Spider, this doesn’t involve you.” He pointed the gun at Peter.

“Last I checked, we’re in Queens, and you have a gun. Which does make it my problem.” He shot another web at the gun, snatching it from the man’s hand and throwing it at the ground. “Now that I’ve taken that, you can wait here for the cops.”

“You won’t stop me from getting her.”

Peter just ignored him, instead slinging another web at his feet, sticking him in place and ensuring that he couldn’t move. He turned to the terrified woman and attempted to shoo her out. “Call the police, you’ll be fine.” She frantically shook her head, and Peter watched as she tried to coax a small girl from behind a dumpster. He walked over to the small girl. She shrunk away from him, instead running towards the girl that was obviously her mother. 

“You bitch, just give me my daughter!” The man yelled from behind Peter. His spidey sense went off and Peter turned to see the man slide a knife out of his sleeve and throw it at the woman. 

Not able to think of anything else, Peter flung himself into the way of the knife, twisting to shield the mother and daughter. The knife hit his abdomen. Peter reeled from the stab before moving to web the man’s arms to the wall and his mouth shut. After the man was properly restrained, Peter fell onto his knees. The woman tried to thank him and call for help, but he just waved her away. She took her daughter and left the alley.

“Peter, now that you are out of danger, I feel the need to inform you that you have a stab wound. You need to get immediate attention. I am calling Mr. Stark.”

“No wait Karen! I’m fine.” He tried to protest, only to fall back down.

“Peter?! I’m on the way, Karen told me what happened.” Peter heard Tony through his mask.

“Karen’s a snitch.” Peter took a deep breath before forcing himself to walk a little further from where the webbed up man was still grumbling at him. 

“Karen is trying to keep you alive. A pursuit, the rest of us wholeheartedly appreciate. You’re aunt’s worried sick, as usual. You need to stop getting stabbed like this kid.

“I’ll try.” He genuinely meant it every time, but if it was the difference between him getting stabbed, and somebody else, he wasn’t going to just let someone else get hurt.

Peter heard the sound of repulsors, and looked up to see Tony landing next to him. “C’mon Spiderbaby, let’s get you to med bay.”

Peter just nodded as Tony picked him up and carried him back to the tower.

* * *

Harley was in his room, talking to Abby when he noticed someone run by his room. He quickly wrapped up the call before walking into the living room. There he found Pepper sitting on the couch alone. “Where’s everyone else?”

Pepper looked up, a worried expression on his eyes. “Peter got hurt. Tony went to bring him home. May’s waiting in the med bay for Tony to bring Peter.”

Harley froze. Peter was hurt? What could have happened? Was he ok? Harley steeled his eyes. “I need to be down there. I want to be there when he gets back.”

“No Harley.” Pepper patted the seat next to her. “Sit here. If you go down there, you’re only going to get in the way. They’ll call us when we can go down.”

Harley opened his mouth to protest, but Friday beat him to speaking. “Boss says Peter’s in bed, May is stitching him up. He’ll call you down when she’s done.”

Pepper let out an audible sigh of relief. Harley just looked towards the elevator before settling down next to Pepper. “He’s hurt.”

“I know honey.” She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and pulled him into her embrace. “I know.”

Harley tilted his head into her arm. “How do you deal with this? He goes out there every day, and he risks his life, and I just have to sit here, hoping the next time I see him won’t be in a casket.”

“Tony’s the same, Every time he goes out on a mission I sit here, and hope he isn’t hurt. It’s all you can do, because when someone you love is a superhero, they belong to the city more than they do to you. Tony’s my soulmate, but I know that if it’s him or me or the city, he’ll pick the city every time. And as much as I hate it, I wouldn’t change him for anything.”

Harley just nodded. Then he registered Pepper’s statement. “No, I’m not- I’m not in love with him. We’re just friends.” He tried to deny his own feelings, hoping they didn’t swallow him whole.

Pepper just gave him a look before smiling and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. There’s no way you aren’t soulmates. I wish you would stop skirting around each other and would just take that chance. There’s no point in waiting when things like this could happen any day. Peter’s not going to stop being Spider-Man, so it’s up to you to decide if you’re going to take the moments you can get, or regret the moments you don’t.”

Harley sighed. “I’ll- I’ll see.”

“That’s all I can ask of you sweetie.” Harley curled into her arm, placing another arm on his own red quote as they both sat there, waiting for Friday to tell them that everything was ok.

* * *

It was over an hour later when Friday finally said, “Boss says you can come down.”

Harley jumped up, practically running into the elevator, Pepper close on his heels. As soon as they got down, Tony greeted them. “He’s awake and completely normal. All he needs is a little rest, so he’s sleeping.”

Pepper let out a sigh of relief. “Oh good.”

Harley looked at Peter’s door, only barely remembering to ask before barging in. “Can I see him?”

Tony just nodded. “May is just bandaging him up, but he's in shape to get visitors, so yes. Go give him some company.”

Harley was already opening the door before Tony finished his sentence. He slipped inside, hearing Tony chuckle before the door closed. 

May turned to smile at him, before turning back to finish putting on the bandage. Harley looked over at Peter. He was peaceful sleeping as his aunt finished fussing with the bandage. Harley saw the ripped spider suit on a seat. In place of the suit, Peter seemed to be wearing a loose tank top, one of Tony's left down here years ago. It fit weirdly on him, and Harley's mind started to wander. 

He looked away, his face growing hot at the thought. He heard May laugh as she got up. He turned to face her, but she didn't explain. Instead, she lightly shook Peter. "Hey Pumpkin, Harley's here."

Peter slowly came back to consciousness. "Harley?"

"Hey Peter." Harley moved to sit in the seat closest to his bed.

May walked over to the door. "I'm just going to get a drink of water. Watch him." She directed the last statement at Harley, and he could see Peter rolling his eyes.

Eventually, the door closed, leaving Peter and Harley alone in the room. 

“You got hurt.” Harley whispered, so low he could barely hear himself.

Peter gave him a sheepish smile. "Yeah. Sorry about that." He sat up, leaning against the wall.

"This isn't a joke." Harley's voice was hard. "I- I don't like watching you get hurt. Please be more careful darlin'."

Peter's face softened. "I promise." He gestured to himself. "I'm sorry you had to see this. That you had to wait to see if I was ok. I'll try not to get hurt, I always do, but if it's between me or someone else, I'm always going to make the same decision."

"I know." Harley almost shouted, before slumping back in the chair. "I know. And I hate that you're so selfless, but I can't- I don't want to stop you. I just wish you would take better care of yourself.”

Peter just nodded. “I’ll try.” He turned to face Harley. His loose tank twisted, letting a bit of red ink peek out from below the neckline. 

Harley had specifically been trying to avoid looking too closely at Peter’s soul quotes, but he couldn’t help himself at the sight of the red quote in the same position as his own. Harley tried to squash his growing hopes to no avail. “Peter, your soul quote, the one on your chest, could you read it out?” He looked up at the brunette with hope. “Of course, only if you want to, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.” He quickly back tracked, realizing how personal his question was.

Peter looked at Harley with confusion, before slowly craning his head down to look at his soul quote, noticing that it was visible above the tank top.  _ “I know this whole city thinks it needs you _ ,”

“ _ But not as much as I do.”  _ Harley finished the quote, a smile growing on his face. 

Peter looked at him in shock. “You? We-?”

Harley pulled down the collar of his shirt, exposing the matching quote written in Peter’s handwriting. “Well sweetheart, I have a feeling we might be soulmates.” He grinned, before laughing to himself. Pepper had said the same thing, only a few hours earlier. Looked like her words were worth more than he realized. “You know, Pep-”

Harley was interrupted as Peter reached out and pulled Harley’s shirt towards him, pressing his lips on Harley’s own. Harley immediately abandoned any intentions to finish his sentence, instead going deeper into the kiss.

“Hey kids, I- AH!” Harley and Peter split apart to see Tony standing at the door, his hands covering his eyes. “I didn’t see anything.” He walked out of the room. In the distance they heard him say, “Oh my god Pep, I’ve been scarred for life. Did you know those two were-”

Peter and Harley burst out laughing. Peter looked at Harley, his eyes lingering on the other boy’s lips. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to do that.”

Harley just smirked. “Not as long as I’ve been waiting darlin’.”

“Well good for you, you don’t have to wait any longer.” Peter pulled Harley into another kiss and Harley’s last thought was that he could get used to a life like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! Thank you to everyone who read this. I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. This was my first multi-chapter fic, so it was definitely a learning experience, and I'm kinda sad to see it end.
> 
> The Quotes:  
> Peter and Uncle Ben: With great power comes great responsibility. (Spider-Man)  
> Peter and Aunt May: Family doesn't have to end in blood. (Modification of Popular Quote)  
> Peter and Ned: The world's not perfect, but it's not that bad. (Alec Benjamin - If We Have Each Other)  
> Peter and Tony: Oh yes, the past can hurt, but from the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it. (The Lion King)  
> Peter and MJ: I have hated the words, and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right. (The Book Thief)  
> Harley and Abby: We may grow in opposite directions, yet our roots remain as one. (Modification of Popular Quote)  
> Harley and Tony: If we lay a strong enough foundation, we'll pass it on to you, we'll give the world to you. (Hamilton - Dear Theodosia)  
> Peter and Harley: I know this whole city thinks it needs you, but not as much as I do. (Modification of Fall Out Boy - The Last of the Real Ones)
> 
> If you want to join a discord server and talk to more amazing people who love Parkner go here: https://discord.gg/cRkmzWR

**Author's Note:**

> Brownie Points for whoever can guess what the full quotes are and where they're from!
> 
> Talk to me on tumblr @lilacsandlilies4  
> or on discord @LilacsAndLilies


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